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Peter
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“What do you mean you want to take us to Florida??” peter asked incredulously, working on his latest prototype for nonlethal restraining devices. He was almost ready to start pitching the concept to the NYPD as soon as he could make the stuff look different from his web fluid. Shouldn’t be too hard… the texture was a bit different and the color was more… grey than the usual slightly off-white that his webbing was naturally.
“I mean, that you’ve been working exceptionally hard lately and I want to spoil my boyfriend.” Emma said, reclining in one of the chairs that was furnished in his private lab.
...a private lab. Oh wow. He’d actually started to get used to the fact that he had a fully fledged lab with every machine, every resource, every tool necessary to actually start making progress. If anything, he actually kind of felt like he was getting spoiled for choice.
He never could get over the fact that Emma Frost, the Emma frost… was his girlfriend. The fact that he could feel how much she loved him with everything she had did wonders for his insecurities, but it was still something he marveled at.
“It’s not just you however.” Emma said with an almost apologetic look. “I’m also going to be offering the visit to your Aunt so she doesn’t think that there’s anything… hinky about the trip.”
“Ah… so what you’re saying is this isn’t just an opportunity to make me choke on my tongue seeing you in different swimsuits.” He said sagely, and grinned as she snorted.
“Not… just that yes.” Emma said, her cheeks having the faintest hint of red upon them. “To better sell this to your Aunt, seeing as how you would be missing a week or so of school, I also planned an introduction to Dr. Curtis Connors.”
That hung in the air for just a moment, before Peter’s eyes widened in delight and anxiety.
“Curt Connors??? Are you kidding me?! One of the foremost minds in Biology and Biochemistry??? He was even involved in some experiments aimed to try and recreate the Super-Soldier serum from back in the forties that made Captain America! That Doctor Curt Connors?” Peter exulted, still working on his final prototype for a restraint device.
“Yes Beloved. That Curt Connors.” She mused with her hand under her chin.
God she looked so cute like that.
“...Wow. How on earth do you know him?”
“I don’t. But he’s currently searching for funding to do experiments on limb regeneration, and I graciously offered to do so, as long as he was willing to meet a young enterprising young man who could really benefit from seeing his work and perhaps… even work alongside him for a while?” She said with a slow sensuous smirk that sent little shudders of pleasure down his back.
“you… are the best girlfriend ever.” Peter said, finally finishing with his experiment, allowing it to process for the next hour and moving over to where Emma was sitting, and pulling her into a deep kiss.
Mmm… I must say, I’m going to need to start surprising you more often if you reward me with such tasty treats~
Shut up and kiss me.
Oooh~ yes sir…
They giggled and laughed while they kissed, turning the steamy activity into something more… playful. Not that that was a bad thing afterall, they really shouldn’t be having sex in the lab… That one time notwithstanding. What could he say, he’d been a bit tied up when she’d walked into the lab after his first prototype… exploded.
“Alright alright…” Emma said as they reluctantly broke away from each other, her breathing just a tad heavier than his own. Go spider-enhanced physiology for the win. “You need to be heading home… so I’ll have us driven there so that I can speak with your Aunt in person.”
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Emma
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May Parker was a wonderful woman. Truly a wonderful woman. That was one of the reasons that she always felt awful about hiding the relationship that she had with Peter, but then… They didn’t exactly have any other options. Until Peter was eighteen, they had to keep things on the down-low.
“So… you’re saying that this Man… Dr. Connors would be interested in talking with our Peter?” May asked, quite interested and surprised, leaning forward.
“Oh yes. I sent him over some of Peter’s research papers and he said that he could scarcely believe that a highschooler was the one to pen them and not some hot-shot Doctor. Now, this isn’t some ‘we have to move now or we’ll never be able to have peter meet him’ kind of thing, but the Doctor is a busy man, and peter is going to be having exams soon.. though I doubt that he’ll struggle in the slightest with him. Really, you should consider-”
“I know what you’re going to say Emma, but I truly think it would better suit peter to try sticking out the rest of his highschool career. He might be more than smart enough to start working on a doctorate, but he needs to be able to socialize with people his own age before he gets thrown into the wide world. He’s such a sensitive boy you know…” May said as firmly as she ever did.
Emma raised her hands playfully in capitulation. “As you say May. I don’t dare try and tell a firecracker like you no.”
May rolled her eyes and flicked a rag in the woman’s direction as Peter came back down from the stairs in a more relaxed outfit. Just shorts and a t-shirt… mmm… that definition in his shoulders was really starting to come through. She was also already starting to have ideas on how to best show off her swimsuits to Peter…
“So...wait. You’d like to take us both down there?” May said, finally realizing what Emma had been offering this entire time as Peter went ahead and set the table for the meal that May had cooked for them. Mashed potatoes and Pot roast with roasted carrots, onions, and a cheesecake for dessert along with dinner rolls.
Good lord if she wasn’t as active as she was, she would be certain that she would become entirely spherical from the good cooking that May Parker placed before him. Though maybe if she was lucky, the extra weight would all go to her ass, thighs and breasts. She was certain that Peter would certainly not complain if that were to occur.
“Indeed. From what I’ve heard from Peter, you’ve not had a vacation in a very very long time, and frankly a little sun might be good for all of us. Me included. The Board of Directors gets very… uppity around this time of year.” Emma muttered with a little pursing of her lips, unhappy with how they continued to act the fool when things were going better than ever. Maybe she never should have taken the company public…
“Ah… the troubles of the Ultra-wealthy.” May teased her as they all took their places at the table, May said Grace, and then they began to eat. It was delicious as always, the savory pot roast combined with the richness of the mashed potatoes, the tender carrots and onions,and the subtle sweetness of the dinner rolls topped with a cinnamon butter.
“Aunt may, I’ve really got to say, you are an amazing cook. Its a miracle that they haven’t picked you up to become America’s Next Top Chef.” Peter praised, eating more than one helping, having slowly started to stop hiding how much he ate from his aunt. Emma had been the one to encourage him to do so as she just couldn’t stand watching him be very obviously hungry at the dinner table and yet not continuing to eat.
“You tease me Peter.” May said, the woman’s dusting of a blush absolutely precious as she ate some of her own cooking, and Emma hummed happily at the flavors dancing along her tongue. “Now… about this trip… you’re ahead on all of your assignments?”
“By at least a couple of weeks Aunt may. I’ve been asking them to give me my work ahead of time as just sitting in class has become… unproductive.” Emma had to fight a snort. That was an understatement to be honest. He’d always been a smart young man from everything she’d found out looking through his records and scanning through his mind. But now? With how relaxed and confident he was? Peter was chewing through the usual class schedule and was finding it more and more difficult to maintain a ‘normal’ pace in school.
“Well… if you’ve gotten that much work done, and you don’t have any plans with friends…?”
“...I don’t have friends Aunt May… you know that.” Peter said softly, his tone empty as he looked down at his plate and continued to eat. It bothered Emma rather a lot to realize that despite her young lover being exceptionally mature, he still felt some of the major loneliness of being a teenager. Having no one to call his friend.
“...Oh Peter… maybe we should go on this trip. You could get some sun, enjoy the beach… who knows, maybe you’d even make some new friends! Maybe a pretty girl? Actually, now that I think about it, Anna Watson has been talking about her niece who moved in with her a few months back, and I think it would be lovely if you two met. You could get to know each other and really Peter she has just the most wonderful personality.”
Emma Frost was not a jealous individual. Okay, that was a lie. She was a very jealous individual, but it was hard to be jealous about Peter when she could feel his devotion in every fiber of his being, every errant thought in his mind. So it was with amusement instead of annoyance or jealously that she felt her beloved’s inner voice cringe at the idea of meeting a girl with a ‘wonderful personality’.
What? You don’t like women with a good personality lover? Should I pretend to be more vapid and shallow?
Ah… the panic inside his mind was so cute as he tried to assure her otherwise.
W-what? No! No no no, I didn’t mean it like that just that…
I tease, I tease. I understand Peter. Whenever someone brings up a ‘wonderful personality’ it feels like they’re hiding something else about the person.
Emma, out of respect for the old woman’s boundaries, had long since avoided traipsing through May’s mind, so she was just as blind to what this woman was talking about as he was.
“Her name is Mary Jane Watson, and she’s a lovely girl. A bit flighty perhaps, but a wonderful girl.” May continued to attempt to talk the girl up and Emma once more couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Peter should date someone his own age as well… but she knew that even if she brought it up, Peter would refuse for the same reasons as why he didn’t attempt to date Betty Brant though she seemed more than eager to do so. He refused to two-time a girl at all and they couldn’t just casually reveal to someone that Peter was dating her.
Not for the first time she cursed the fact that she was as old as she was, or that he wasn’t at least eighteen. It was a complicated mess… but they were in love and when he finally did turn eighteen they could finally stop hiding.
Of course once they did, the board would attempt to latch onto her ‘degeneracy’ as a reason that she should no longer run her own company. Bah… she should really look into acquiring a large majority of her stock so that she could finally tell them all to shut the fuck up.
It might affect her liquid capital and other stock options but the most important thing would be to make sure that she could never be ousted by those buffoons.
“Aunt May… I-”
“Oh I know you think I’m meddling, but really Peter, even if you don’t end up deciding to date the girl, I think you might find that you have a few things in common.” She said as she popped a carrot into her mouth, as Emma bit into a dinner roll. Mmm. Damn May could cook.
“I’ll think about it.” Peter said eventually, before pivoting back to the original topic at hand. “So… what are you thinking aunt May? Can we go to Florida? Meeting Dr. Connors would be amazing and I’ve always wanted to visit other states. I… I don’t think I’ve ever even been outside of New York.”
He’d been outside of the city, but that was almost always as part of his Spider-Man responsibilities.
“...If you truly are ahead of all your work, and this Dr. Connors is as big a name in… what were the fields?”
“Biology and Biochemistry.”
“Those are two separate fields? Huh… Well if he’s as big of a name in those fields as you say, it would benefit you greatly getting to talk with the man I think… And I can’t deny, I’ve wanted to go to Florida. The beaches are supposedly beautiful.”
Got her.
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One Day Later- Peter
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“You know, I don’t know what I was expecting when you said that you would fly us all down to Florida, but it wasn’t going in a private jet.” Peter mused as he looked around the massive jumbo jet.
“Of course.” Emma said with her characteristic aristocratic tone. The one she used when she wanted to be especially playful about how wealthy she was and how many perks that came with. The plane did however make him concerned with just how much pollution and usage of natural resources came about through travel… Hmm… perhaps there was something he could look into in regards to renewable or sustainable energy?
Something to consider for another time. For now, he was just focusing on making sure that he had completed his restraining mixture for law enforcement. His hope was that with a much more effective and easily accessible non-lethal option for capturing criminals, the amount of deaths in the process of law enforcement would drop.
Plus… if it got adopted Nation-wide, he would be able to claim a fair amount of cash from the royalties.
“Oh My… I have to say, I’ve never flown before, and seeing things like this? With the sheer luxury?” May said with a legitimately happy smile on her face, looking out one of the windows. “Oh I think you might have spoiled me for anything else.”
Peter chuckled before psychically projecting so that Emma could hear him but his aunt couldn’t.
Oh… she’s not the only one who feels spoiled. I swear, you have been doing absolutely everything you can to give me the greatest experiences of anyone who’s ever lived.
I only ever try to give you what I feel the world owes you beloved. Especially as you ask for so little on a daily basis.
Why would I ask for more? I’ve got everything I could ask for? I’m delving deep into scientific discovery. My grades are perfect leaving me with a 4.2 GPA, I’m getting more sleep than I had been, I’m no longer hungry, my aunt isn’t worried about paying off the house anymore,and the reason for all of that? Is you. My amazing girlfriend who I still can’t believe thinks I’m worth… all of this.
All of this and more.
“So what’s the itinerary when we touch down?” Peter asked curiously.
“Well, we’ll get checked into the Hotel Rooms. I hope you don’t mind that I gave us each our own room? I thought it might be nice to let you two have some space to yourselves.” Emma said with a winning smile to May who frowned for a moment before nodding.
It also doesn’t hurt that it would make it easier for me to slip into your bedroom Beloved~.
Heh… we should probably still be careful. Being able to be invisible to everyone’s sight won’t hide the recordings of the Security Camera’s.
Oh poo. Rain on my parade why don’t you? We’ll just have to have some fun on the beaches somewhere then.
“That’s very sweet of you Emma. I hope you never think that we’re taking advantage of your hospitality. The Parker family has never been the kind to take for granted the kindness of our friends.” May Said gently, worried and wanting to make sure that what she said was hear and believed. Peter could feel the mild exasperation, affection and amusement in Emma’s mind as she kindly spoke to the elderly woman.
“May, I promise you that there is no chance that the two of you have taken advantage of me whatsoever. Everything I do for you is because I greatly appreciate your company.”
“...I wish that Ben was still around. He would have found you to be a wonderful woman. It still surprises me to this day that You’re single. Do you truly not have anyone in your life?” She asked concernedly. Emma’s eyes flickered just briefly over towards Peter who felt… tense. This wasn’t a conversation that Peter had been aware of but he supposed that they didn’t just talk about him as Emma and his Aunt had seemed to become close over the time that Emma had first introduced herself.
“To be Truthful May… I do have someone in my life. He’s smart. Brilliant. Funny. Incredibly supportive. One of the greatest men I have ever known in my life. But… our relationship is quite private. We don’t go out in public as we agreed that for the moment it would simply be… too irritating and complicated to deal with people’s reactions.”
Legality also doesn’t help… but come your eighteenth birthday… we will no longer hide anything.
I don’t want to hide… but weirdly enough I’m also not wanting to make a fuss about it? We’ll eventually get found out, but I don’t see the need to tell everybody our plans.
Mm… as you wish my love.
“Oh that’s wonderful. If you end up getting married, I hope that you’ll think of inviting us. We would love to be there to see you tie the knot.” May said with a smile, and Emma returned it, a flicker of mischief there.
“Oh that was always going to happen. I wouldn’t dare get married to the Man of my dreams without you there May.”
Peter had to fight hard not to blush and possibly make his aunt suspicious or confused.
This flight was… going to be a trial. With her being so close and yet not being able to touch her, or hold her.
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Florida-Everglades
Peter
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“The weather is certainly more… damp.” Aunt May said, using a pamphlet to wave air at her face. It got hot in the city for sure, but it tended to be a drier heat than anything, usually being closer to an oven rather than a steamer. The humidity was palpable, with every breath sucking in air feeling more difficult.
Peter was of course still fine due to his enhanced physiology, but it would probably be better for both Emma and his Aunt if they got into some air conditioning as soon as possible until they were ready to hit the beach.
Not that he would be able to anytime soon however. He was scheduled to meet with Dr. Connors today.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be at the hotel soon… but First, I want to get Peter settled in with Dr. Connors if you don’t mind May? We’ll be here for a week, but it’ll be better off if I introduce him early. Let the two geniuses talk about things us mere mortals can barely even conceive of.” Emma said playfully as they were finally approached by a driver and porter who loaded up all of their luggage, placing it in the trunk of a highly expensive and luxurious vehicle.
“That would be your car May. Just say the word and you’ll be taken to the hotel, and any expenses you might have, just place it on this.” Emma said, withdrawing a black card with platinum trim, and handing it off to his aunt.
“Emma! This is far too-”
“May, I’m already paying for a week long vacation trip at one of the finest hotels in Florida. Please just stop worrying about money for a little bit and just enjoy the trip?”
“Oh very well… Peter, are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
Peter felt a touch of exasperation fill him as he gave Aunt May a reassuring smile. “I’m fine Aunt May. I’ll have Ms. Frost with me, and once we get there, Doctor Connors will be there and we’ll get sucked into science talk.”
“Of course dear… you know me. Just a worried old woman.” She said with a little smile. Peter relented and went in for a hug that his aunt returned almost immediately.
“Of course Aunt May. But really, you should go and have some fun. Even if we’re here for me to meet up with the Doc, we’re on vacation!”
With a little bit more encouragement, his Aunt finally pulled away with a smile and got in the vehicle, Leaving Emma and Peter alone. Well… as alone as they could be in a crowded airport exit.
The older woman looked him over in that seemingly dispassionate and cool way that he was used to, and he could feel his body responding.
Easy there Emma… we can’t really afford to be doing anything crazy.
I know… but being so close to you, and being unable to touch you beloved… it was…
Torture.
Precisely.
The two secret lovers Hopped into the vehicle that was brought to them by one of Emma’s many employees, and sped of in the direction of Doctor Connors lab in the Everglades.
They didn’t talk much the entire drive. Instead, they just psychically melded, letting each others fantasies, fears, and emotions meld with each other. It was… a very powerful sensation, but also not one that anybody not a psychic would have noticed.
Eventually, they pulled into a secluded yet modern looking facility deep in the swamps of the Everglades. The humidity was nasty but Peter was surviving it for the most part even if it wasn’t comfortable. Emma on the other hand… “Ugh! I cannot wait until I can get into some air conditioning. I don’t think I’ve looked this unpresentable in years.”
She was exaggerating of course. She looked every inch the corporate Ice Queen that she was, and Peter said as much.
“Hah! You’re a Darling Peter, but you have a few blinders on my love. But then, I suppose that’s part of why I love you.” She said with a brightening smile as they suffered the short distance out of her car and into the facility. There were a number of automated security checkpoints, but Emma was able to get them through by simply tapping a button on a speaker system. “Doctor Connors? This is Emma Frost. We spoke over the phone?”
there was a brief pause before an eager male voice came through.
“Of course Ms. Frost! I’ve been waiting to hear from you, as well as this special young man. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a strong grasp of Biochemistry in so young an individual.”
Emma just laughed as the security measures went down, allowing them access to the innermost part of the lab. “That he is Doctor Connors. We’ll be right there with you.”
Walking for a short while, they eventually met the Doctor himself and… yep. He only had one arm.
Peter had heard about the situation that had caused that… Curt Connors had been a medic in the army before an IED had taken one of his arms. Somehow he had still managed to make his way into the hallowed halls of brilliant scientists afterwards, with only one arm.
“Welcome! Welcome to my lab Ms. Frost. Mr. Parker. I have heard amazing things about you, and your recent essays on Biochemistry and your theories on how DNA from other animals might interact with human DNA. Absolutely brilliant, and I have reason to believe that you might just be right about how we might be able to intertwine the two. Please, let me show you around.”
Emma just smiled at Peter who had looked at her, for the first time in a long time actually feeling his age. Like he’d been given full permission to go look around a candy story and pick out whatever he wanted. “Hah! You two are already getting along like a house on fire. In that case, I’ll let you gentlemen start doing whatever it is you have planned. Doctor Connors? I thank you for giving Mr. Parker here the chance to get some practical experience outside of my own labs. He’s rather brilliant, but brilliance sharpens itself upon other brilliance in my experience, so this is perfect.”
Doctor Connors turned from Peter and gave her a very respectful nod. “And I thank you for funding my research into Organic Replacement Limbs. Without the money that you’ve sank into my research, I would have to make… far more desperate forays out into the realm of investment research. You’ve made it so that I can stick to my level of Scientific research without having to… exaggerate what I’m looking to do, or working on ridiculous deadlines.”
“What is your goal Doctor Connors?”
Peter asked curiously, and the Doctor smiled. “I’m investing and researching into a world where one day, limb replacement will be with a real arm, instead of a prosthetic metal or plastic copy.”
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Four Days Later -Emma
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“...You know Peter. When I brought you down here, I was hoping that we would be able to spend a little more time together when your Aunt was doing whatever she’d like to do.” Emma said bemusedly, lounging on a Beach towel in a revealing, yet not scandalous bikini, an umbrella covering her from direct Sun exposure as the wind and waves of the ocean kept things just cool enough that it was a pleasant experience laying out on the beach. Next to her, her younger lover was reclining in the sun, some sunblock placed upon his body, making his already somewhat pale form glow almost a pasty white.
He looked… so relaxed. Like he was for once getting the chance to rest in a way he never had before. It warmed her heart and made her feel like she’d made the exact right decision.
“Trust me… I wish we could do that too. But I also want to prove that I’m worth all of the time and effort you’re putting into my well-being. My future and everything.”
“You’re so very Sweet Peter… but you don’t have to justify a single solitary thing to me. Not ever. You’re worth more than I can even begin to describe.” She said with a slow soft tone. Tender in a way that she had never ever been with someone other than him.
“...Can you make sure no one pays attention to us?” Peter asked, and Emma’s heart-rate jumped as a bit of excitement filled her chest as she immediately broadcasted a supremely uninteresting image of the two of them just sitting there before looking at peter who practically launched himself at her, capturing her lips with a kiss so powerful it almost sucked the soul out of her.
Finally~
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The Next Day
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How had things gone downhill so fucking quickly? One day they were rolling around passionately on the beaches of Florida, and the next, Peter was panicking in her mind,
Peter, I’m going to be there momentarily, but I need you to focus okay? What the hell is going on?
Doctor Connors! He was so excited about this formula he’d been working on that- I don’t know! I think he tried it on himself. He turned into some kind of… humanoid lizard, and he’s trying to beat the crap out of everything! I had to go into costume to try and follow him and… I don’t know what to do!
I’ll be there presently Peter. Keep an eye on him, and stay alive. Everything else is secondary to that.
Do my best Emma!
She lied her ass off after that to May. Keeping a smile on her face, she’d made excuses about how she’d recently received a call from her Board of directors and that she was going to need to handle things there, but that May should enjoy her spa day.
She’d practically broken every single traffic law and code in her hurry to get to Doctor Connors lab, and she was chilled to find that there was a hole in one of the walls… and the sounds of combat was off in the distance. Idly, she groaned at the fact that she was going to need to go deeper into the swamp and if there was one thing she was not prepared for, it was trekking into the deep dark murky swamps of the Everglades. At least she could use her telepathy to keep wildlife away from her. Wildlife didn’t have thoughts in a way that she could comprehend,but she could still feel them like little pinpricks on a radar.
The fighting got louder and louder, and she could feel the impacts on the ground as a snarling voice came out of the creature that Doctor Connors had become
“You will fall! You and the rest of your pitiful mammalian species!”
“Doctor Connors please! You introduced your wife to me! Your son! You can’t throw them away! You have to fight this! Come back to the light, come back to your family!”
Every time Emma saw her beloved fight, she was shown that he was so much more powerful and skilled than she could possibly have imagined. Sure, there were stronger. Colossus, The Thing, Hulk… and of course Juggernaut and Thor. But barring the super-heavyweights that she had just listed… she knew no one who had the raw power that her beloved did. And he was still young and hadn’t ever trained properly.
The two combatants used the whole of the swamp to assist their fighting, from Peter leaping and bounding off of trees to attack and attempt to restrain the Lizard that Doctor Connors had become, to the doctor diving into the water before lunging out like a massive shark.
Was there even anything left of Doctor Connors? The thought wouldn’t leave Emma’s mind as she reached out with her mind, digging deep to try and… try and understand.
Deep within there was something… old. And hungry. But more than anything, it was afraid. Afraid in such a bone deep way that she could feel it herself. And underneath that fear, she could feel that which made up Doctor Curtis Connors. The anger, the brilliance, the frustration and the desperation to feel whole.
It was then that she realized, the Lizard had both arms. So… that was why. Of course that was why, how could she be so stupid?
But it was her lovers desperate cries to Connors and the increasing frustration and fear from the Lizard’s thoughts that she felt… the urge. The drive to do something that could help. She wasn’t sure how well this would work… but she had to try.
“Spider-man! Don’t attack him! I’m going to try something!” She called out, feeling the need to use every spare bit of mental power she could scrape together to try something. With the feeling of a swiftly narrowing window of opportunity, she delved deep into the mind of Curt Connors… feeling the frayed edges between the Doctor and the Lizard. Carefully, she created a bridge between the two parts of the mind. Normally, she would be worried about doing something like this but… well every so often you just have to take a leap of faith. That’s all this was. A leap of faith.
Connecting the two parts of the mind, at first the Lizard froze, before screaming a wordless bellow to the heavens, as she could feel both parts freaking out.
They almost began to claw and destroy one another before she managed to psychically place herself between them. Taking a risk… she delved deep enough into the Mind of the Lizard Connors to visualize herself between them.
“stop!” She called out, seeing the lizard that Connors had become and the man that he was before circling each other.
“Foul human! The Lizard will not stop until the whole Human Race is destroyed!”
“I can’t stop! If I don’t stop him, he’ll kill everyone! He’ll kill my family!”
Emma flared her psychic power again one more time, forcing them away from each other as they had begun to lunge at one another again.
“Look at yourselves! You’re acting out because you’re scared! Connors for gods sake, really look at him!”
There was silence in the mind as Connors did as she asked… and there was a sense of shocked understanding.
“...I… but why are you scared? What do you have to be scared of?”
The Lizard hissed and scraped, a threat display if she’d ever seen one.
“The Lizard is not afraid! The Lizard will not be fooled! Connors would kill if given the chance, so I must strike first!”
Emma spoke quietly, a soothing tone that she only used with Peter when he was having a rough day. “He only wants to protect his family. He doesn’t know what you are. But I do. You are him. You’re his most primal desires. The survival instinct. The protection instinct. The killing instinct.”
“...I don’t want to die.” The Lizard said eventually, still in a threat display as Emma could finally feel Curtis beginning to understand.
“I don’t want my family to die.”
“You wont… hurt me?”
“Not if you don’t hurt me.”
“you see?” Emma whispered gently. “This doesn’t have to end in blood. You’re the same being. You don’t have to be split like this. You can be whole.”
Curt swallowed… and Emma let go of the psychic energy separating them. As she did… the Lizard and Connors moved closer to one another… and offered a hand as if in unison. They grasped each others forearms...and just like that, the split nature of Doctor Connors’s mind was restored to a single solitary mental presence. It was still rough. Still spiky in places… but the Doctor was restored to his original form…
With two arms.
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Later- In Doctor Connors’s Lab
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“I… don’t know how I can thank the two of you.” Doctor Connors said as he sat down roughly on an office chair as he looked up at Emma who was giving him a supremely unimpressed gaze, and Peter who had sheepishly removed his costume after Connors had recognized him almost immediately.
“Well, you can start by forgetting that Peter is Spider-man. Or I’ll have to make you.” Emma said frostily, as befitting of her name as Peter waved his hands in protest.
“Emma! It’s… its fine. I’m sure Doctor Connors won’t tell anyone.”
“Of course! I… I’m still shocked to realize all of this happened… I was a fool. I owe you an apology Peter… I never should have… Well. Let me just say that if you ever need anything, either of you? Just… let me know and I’ll give my all.” Doctor Connors said with a soft smile, before looking back down at the fact that he had two arms. “I’ll of course also not make mention of your relationship.”
Peter froze. As did Emma. What… how could he-
“...Ah. My apologies. My sense have gotten… markedly stronger ever since I became one with my reptilian counterpart. I can smell you on each other in a way that… well.”
Emma just pursed her lips even further.
“...You’re not making a good case for leaving your mind untouched Connors.”
“Emma…” Peter said gently.
“Oh fine… as long as you keep your mouth shut about everything… you’ll still receive all the support I offered, and I’ll leave your mind alone.”
But if he dared to do anything that might harm Peter…
well. She would show why she was far more terrifying than some Lizard.